With victory smiles on their faces, and a gleaming, silvery mass of hardware in their hands, the Boston University Terriers celebrated their 26th Beanpot title Monday night at the FleetCenter.

Lost in the post-game celebration was a Husky who clutched an honor of his own, as Northeastern goaltender Keni Gibson became the recipient of the Eberly Award, given to the goalie with best save percentage in the tournament.

With 71 saves on 75 shots, Gibson was the first Husky awarded since Marc Robitaille won in both 1997 (.944) and 1998 (.893).

“The coach trusts him, just like we all do,” said defenseman Tim Judy, a teammate of Gibson’s throughout their four years. “He’s been playing great all year, and during the last two Mondays, he’s just been unbelievable.”

Gibson, a member of the Huskies who teammates have referred to as a backbone all season, dealt with two straight overtime games for the Huskies, and stayed resilient despite constant pressure and particularly strong Terrier play in the extra frame.

“It’s great, because we know as defensemen that if we make a mistake, he’ll be back there every night playing with confidence,” Judy said.

Despite the loss that prevented the Huskies’ from gaining city bragging rights for the first time since 1988, Judy, like his coach and teammates, was well aware of Gibson’s significance.

“Everyone knows Keni played his heart out and played as hard as he could just like the whole team,” the blueliner said.

Gibson is aware of past recipients of the award and the storied reputation of both the tournament and its post-championship awards, but for now, is thinking about his team’s final few weeks of the regular season.

“With the guys that have won it in the past, it’s definitely nice to be recognized,” Gibson said. “It’s not something I’m going to be thinking about for awhile though, because we really wanted the Beanpot.”

The netminder added that no one on the team should have second thoughts about their playing ability against the Terriers.

“I’m really proud of the way we played, we had a lot of good chances, and if we had a couple bounces go our way, it could have been ours,” he said. “If we play like we did this way the rest of the year, I’ll feel really confident.”